You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.

The SowerMark 4:10-1310 And [de] when [hote] he was [ginomai] alone [katamonas] , they that were about [peri] him [autos] with [sun] the twelve [dodeka] asked [erotao] of him [autos] the parable [parabole] .11 And [kai] he said [lego] unto them [autos] , Unto you [humin] it is given [didomi] to know [ginosko] the mystery [musterion] of the kingdom [basileia] of God [theos] : but [de] unto them [ekeinos] that are without [exo] , all these things [pas] are done [ginomai] in [en] parables [parabole] :12 That [hina] seeing [blepo] they may see [blepo] , and [kai] not [me] perceive [eido] ; and [kai] hearing [akouo] they may hear [akouo] , and [kai] not [me] understand [suniemi] ; lest at any time [mepote] they should be converted [epistrepho] , and [kai] their sins [hamartema] should be forgiven [aphiemi] them [autos] .13 And [kai] he said [lego] unto them [autos] , Know ye [eido] not [ou] this [taute] parable [parabole] ? and [kai] how then [pos] will ye know [ginosko] all [pas] parables [parabole] ? KJV-Interlinear10 And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, 'To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven. ' 13 And He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? NASB

Matt. 13:10-13
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?' 11 And He answered and said to them, 'To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 'For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 'Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. NASB

Luke 8:9-10
9 And His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable might be. 10 And He said, 'To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. NASB

A mystery can carry a varying kind of meaning depending on the context of your conversation. But typically a secret is something that is not generally known by the public, and is known and intended for only a few persons that are privy to its meaning. Some clubs and social organizations have supposed secrets of their membership rituals and so forth, and they do not publish their secrets to the world, but reveal them only to the membership. It is a privilege to be allowed in the small circle, in which the secrets are known.

In this world all secrets carry no importance. Anything manmade or man contrived is worthless, as we have already studied. All things of this world will sooner or later fall to oblivion, therefore all secrets contained within this world have no value or power except in the minds of those who embrace them.

For example, in ancient Egypt there was a popular religious mystery involving the mythical god Osiris and his goddess wife Isis. Osiris was a wise and benevolent king. He was deceptively persuaded by his wicked brother Seth to attend a banquet. At the banquet and with the help of seventy-two co-conspirators, Seth seized the king and placed him in a coffin and threw him into the Nile River to drown. Not cool for the king!

Osiris was rescued by Isis and she brought him home. But Seth discovered his brother was alive, so he went to the palace and again seized the king and cut Osiris into fourteen pieces. Then he shipped the pieces to fourteen different and far separated locations throughout Egypt. Isis searched for and managed to collect all the pieces of his body. Osiris miraculously restored himself to life, and from the time of his 'resurrection' he became an immortal king of both the living and dead.

The story supposedly has its deeper meanings which were known only to members of the Osiris and Isis cults. Each person and incident in the story had special significance. Example, Osiris represented all good and Seth represented all evil. Isis represented the concept of love. The ultimate secret, or mystery, was the formula, 'I am thou, and thou art I,' which, when spoken to Osiris, would place the worshiper in eternal union with that god, or so it was believed by his followers.

This is a story with secrets imbedded within. The story is of course false, because the gods represented are false, therefore the secrets carry no power, only tantalizing enticements to those who are naive.

Sometimes people hang on to their secrets or rituals for a long, long time, and even when their current practices are far different from the original practices. For example, the Romans destroyed the temple and all its practices in 70 AD. With that destruction, the temple was lost, the priesthood was gone, the sacrifices were gone, the feasts and all related to the practices of the Pharisees and others were destroyed.

Today, even so called orthodox Jews who practice Judaism, or say they practice Judaism, follow very little of that which was prescribed in the Old Testament. And even so called reformed branches of Judaism follow far less of that which is commanded by the original scriptures. They have, over the centuries, evolved into a following of traditions, many of which are non-religious traditions, which have very little connection to the times of the Pharisees and are still further from that which was intended by Moses. God as a concept is the front, but not a reality. So these traditions or secrets, used by an exclusive people, represent that trap which people can fall into and which will keep them lost for generations, and to their detriment.

In the end however (the Tribulation), there will be a tremendous revival within the Jewish community, and many believers in Christ will arise and that is when the Kingdom of God will be established (the Second Advent of Christ).

The Bible has a very different look at 'secrets'. In this world secrets are those things which are not intended for the understanding of all, but are primarily for the exclusive use of 'the chosen.' The chosen are those whom are selected, by what ever means, to be the members of a club or whatever organization, and from it others are excluded with no chance of becoming a member.

In the spiritual life secrets are those concepts that are readily available to all, but through the mental attitude of the individual and through the design of mans makeup, those concepts of the spiritual life are not understandable by those who refuse to believe in Christ first, and by those who are defiant with regard to fellowship secondly.

That mechanism of understanding is obtained through salvation. When we are saved (that is the moment in our life when we first believed in Christ) we all received a human spirit. The human spirit is the means through which we may be able to understand spiritual information. You might wish to visit the Index page on the web and view the charts of the soul of the believer and unbeliever and compare them.

Jesus says it is to you (disciples who have believed in Christ) to which understanding is given. It is to them (unbelievers and negative believers) to which understanding is not given. Why? Because the unbeliever is merely made up of body and soul. Believers in Christ have a body, soul, and spirit. Unbelievers lack that all important third component in their makeup, the human spirit, through which spiritual information is channeled. Therefore, not having that human spirit, not having that little mechanism which translates and illuminates spiritual information, then all things spiritual are as secrets - hidden and not understandable.

In the same fashion, the negative believer has a human spirit, but it has to be turned on in order to get spiritual information through it. This 'turning on' of the human spirit is what we call being in fellowship. When you are in fellowship then the human spirit functions properly and spiritual information is understandable and usable by the believer. When the believer is out of fellowship, then the believer merely imitates the unbeliever. The human spirit is off line as it were and all spiritual information does not get through to benefit the soul as it should.

What then does the unbeliever have? A soul which contains a mind and which can understand academic information. Therefore the stories shed some light on spiritual phenomena and give the unbeliever some chance of coming to the point of faith in Christ.

As unbelievers we have all been in this position at some point in our life. But if you can look back at your own life and see just how easy it was for you to understand the gospel and perhaps other things (as an unbeliever), then you should understand that it is not difficult for all unbelievers to understand spiritual concepts through parables or stories that parallel them.

The idea is to provide information to unbelievers and negative believers such that they will believe in Christ, or understand what it is He is teaching. Believers who remain out of fellowship are shut down as it were, in their ability to understand spiritual information.

The goal for all is to be saved, to be in fellowship, and that in turn gives each one of us not only a chance to understand spiritual phenomena, but more important, that spiritual information which is funneled through the human spirit and into the soul becomes more than just information loaded up in the head, it becomes the building blocks of a palace (temple) within the soul. It becomes a great fortress within, and muscle in the soul. Just knowing something is not enough. Mastering it and utilizing it to ones advantage is the ultimate intent of spiritual growth.

Everything begins with a positive attitude, then listening to the lesson taught, then learning, then possessing, then finally using it in ones life. And the process continues throughout ones life as you spiral upward in your spiritual life as a result.

To those who have believed in Christ, then there is a mechanism for understanding the 'secrets' of God - the human spirit, the sphere of fellowship, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit who is the one who communicates all spiritual information through the spiritual learning apparatus.

To the believer who is not in fellowship, then this apparatus is there but it is turned off and the secrets (Bible doctrine) of God do not flow through their spiritual apparatus, thus they do not learn.

For unbelievers, there isn't even a human spirit, so they have no mechanism with which to learn Gods Word. The only spiritual phenomena which they can understand is the gospel and that is what they need in order to be saved first. Spiritual growth can only follow salvation.

Thus, the parables. These are teaching aids through which spiritual concepts can be taught. Parables utilize things which are familiar to the hearers, therefore the hearers have a frame of reference with which they can come to an understanding of the intended principles which are being taught.

Now is the time to post a prayer.

End Of Lesson

Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.